Leadership power: Is the true source position or influence?

A question that should be on the mind of every leader is, “Do people follow me because of the title on my door, or because of who I am as a leader?” Every leader has two kinds of power: personal power and positional power. The former is derived from his ability to influence others, while the latter is derived from the position he occupies. The distinction between positional power and personal influence isn’t merely philosophical; it’s the difference between temporary compliance and lasting impact. Your position allows you to exercise authority, and that may be the reason you are respected. Have you ever wondered what happens when you leave that position? Have you considered how you will be treated by your team members when you lose your rights and privileges?

Carly Fiorina was CEO at Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005. Fiorina wielded tremendous positional authority as CEO, and she pushed through a controversial merger with Compaq despite strong internal opposition, relying heavily on her formal authority. When HP’s performance faltered, that same positional power couldn’t save her. The board removed her, and many of her initiatives were quickly dismantled. This is evidence that leadership built primarily on title rather than influence rarely survives the leader’s departure. Similarly, Marissa Mayer’s tenure at Yahoo demonstrates how positional power without corresponding personal influence can undermine leadership effectiveness. Despite her impressive credentials, Mayer struggled to rally Yahoo’s workforce behind her vision. Her leadership approach, often described as micromanaging, failed to inspire genuine buy-in. When she eventually left in 2017, many of her initiatives were abandoned, highlighting the ephemeral nature of purely positional authority.

Great leaders earn their respect by being a model to the people they lead. They influence their teams through their attitude and ensure that personal power is developed. They don’t abuse the power of their position because they are conscious of the fact that the position is temporary. As management thinker Peter Drucker observed, “The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” This distinction highlights the difference between positional power, which enables telling, and personal influence, which thrives on asking, listening, and engaging. For today’s leaders, you must not rely primarily on the authority granted by your title. You must deliberately invest in building the personal influence that survives your position and creates lasting impact.

Contrary to the story of Fiorina and Mayer highlighted above, former Ford CEO Alan Mulally was a difference. He took over the struggling automaker in 2006 with no automotive industry experience. Rather than leaning on his title, Mulally built personal influence through transparency, consistency, and genuine interest in others’ perspectives. His authentic leadership style created such strong personal influence that Ford employees adopted his approaches voluntarily. Years after his departure, the cultural transformations he initiated continue to shape Ford’s operations. Similarly, Lou Gerstner arrived at IBM as an outsider tasked with saving a faltering technology giant. Instead of mandating change through executive decree, Gerstner spent his first months listening and learning. He built personal credibility by demonstrating deep engagement with IBM’s challenges before implementing his strategic shifts. This approach earned him the respect that allowed him to make difficult decisions while maintaining organisational cohesion.

To develop personal power, you must connect with the people you lead. Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo CEO, personally wrote over 400 letters to the parents of her senior executives, thanking them for raising children who had become such valuable organisational leaders. This unusual practice, far outside the scope of her formal responsibilities, built extraordinary personal connection and loyalty. Years after leaving leadership positions, many of these executives still cite Nooyi’s influence on their own leadership approach. Netflix’s Reed Hastings deliberately developed personal influence while holding positional power by creating the famous “culture deck” that emphasised “freedom and responsibility” over rigid control. By explicitly limiting his reliance on positional authority in day-to-day operations, Hastings built a culture where employees were influenced by shared values rather than hierarchical mandates. The now-famous Netflix culture has survived multiple leadership transitions precisely because it wasn’t dependent on a single person’s position.

How can you determine whether your leadership rests primarily on positional or personal power? Former Medtronic CEO Bill George suggests a simple test: “Watch what happens when you make a mistake.” When George publicly acknowledged a product issue at Medtronic, he observed that teams rallied around finding solutions rather than assigning blame or distancing themselves from him. This response confirmed that his influence extended beyond his title. People followed him because they trusted his judgement and values, not merely because of organisational hierarchy. Another instructive example comes from Howard Schultz’s departure from Starbucks in 2000. His successor abandoned many of Schultz’s customer experience principles in favour of rapid expansion, leading to declining store quality. When Schultz returned eight years later, employees enthusiastically readopted his customer-first philosophy: evidence that his personal influence had remained intact even without positional authority.

The next time you walk into a meeting, ask yourself, “If I weren’t the boss, would people still want to follow me?” The answer might reveal more about your leadership than any performance review ever could.

Oluwole Dada is the General Manager at SecureID Limited, Africa’s largest smart card manufacturing plant in Lagos, Nigeria.